Taking a Fresh Look at Millennial Bloggers

Winning at brand-blogger partnerships is a weekly series from Marketing Profs on how brands are teaming up with bloggers to create winning influencer marketing strategies.

Every blogosphere works differently. A mom blogosphere is centered around teething toys and baby blankets. B2B bloggers are all business all the time. Now we have a new niche of bloggers: millennials. While initial findings represented millennials as lacking in brand loyalty, individualistic, and social media sticklers, there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to this group.

And he should know. Elite Daily conducted the Millennial Consumer Study in 2015 that revealed some interesting facts about the makeup of millennials. Using this information as it pertains to the blogging scene opens up the doors for working with millennial bloggers. Here are some highlights:

Highly Educated and Career-Centric

Millennial bloggers are more than just their blog posts. These bloggers are working with a degree or two in their basket of tricks, equating to a highly educated demographic. Along these lines, millennials are focused on their careers and working toward advancement. This drive shines forth in their ability to maintain a professional blog while working their day job. The savviest of millennial bloggers have found a way to transform their blog into their day job for the ultimate win.

The activity of blogging is more than just content output for millennials. They believe in the power of a blog, especially when it comes to influencing their purchasing decisions. The research shows that 33 percent of millennials use blogs to help guide their purchases, compared to only 3 percent who use books, magazines or the nightly news. For trustworthy millennial bloggers, their peers depend on them for their insight and product knowledge. This should not be overlooked in terms of the power of content marketing.

Authenticity Versus Content

However, content isn’t the be-all for millennial bloggers. They crave authenticity with their online content. In fact 43 percent of millennials chose authenticity over content in relation to news resources. Blogs that are authentic become trusted sources of information. More notably, the majority of these blogs are operated by one person. Blogs that lack the air of authenticity are overlooked and ignored.

Social Engagement in Demand

Millennials expect the moon from companies, which goes above and beyond solely engaging on social media. Brand engagement is where it’s at, as 62 percent of millennials reported that they would be a loyal customer if a brand connected with them personally. Connect with millennial bloggers by offering to sponsor posts, sending free products in exchange for an honest review, and with blogger spotlights on your company’s newsletter or website.

Company Co-Creation

Millennial bloggers want to do more than just blog. Blogs are their platform for connecting with those in their areas of expertise. Once connected with a brand or company, 42 percent of millennials want to help them with the development of products and services. Involvement is paramount to building brand loyalty. For businesses willing to extend their network to include highly educated career driven millennials who are willing to advise in developing products that meet millennials’ expectations, this is a golden egg of discovery.

Charitable Giving

Along the lines of helping others, millennial bloggers are all for giving back to society. In terms of brand loyalty, a whopping 75 percent of millennials reported that giving back to society is fairly or very important for companies. Simply earning a profit is not going to generate brand loyalty among millennial bloggers. Furthermore, you can bank that they won’t be associated with brands that refuse to participate in charitable giving. If you want your brand to be well represented by millennial bloggers, make sure to do your part to help the greater good.

Have you worked with millennial bloggers and have a tip you’d like to share? Let’s talk in the comments below!

Miranda Brumbaugh

This post in our series on how brands are working with bloggers is from Miranda Brumbaugh at MarketingProfs. MarketingProfs is a rich and trusted resource that offers actionable know-how designed to make you a smarter marketer.

One Reply on Taking a Fresh Look at Millennial Bloggers

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